Sewing machine thread take-up



H. F. scHAEFER, JR, ETYAL Sept. 15, 1959 SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP original Fi1edqu1y'5. 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 [n1/enf ors L? ,if

Hams E Schaefer, Tfr: Fran/f PU/s/'fe 7 Sept. l5, 1959 H. F. scHAEFER, JR., ET Al- 2,903,985

' SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP Original Filed July 5. 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet` 2 [nz/enfers Haris F.' Schaefer; JT;

FTI/f PLI/Sife'r Sept. l5, 1959 H. F. scHAEFER, JR., ETAL 2,903,985

l SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP original Filed July 5. 1952 8 sheets-sheet 3 lnvenors l H0775 F.' chae'e; Tfr: v

Frank PU/sifer Sept. l5, 1959 H. F. scHAEFER, JR., ET Al- 2,903,985

` SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP Original Filed July 5. 1952 SSheets-Sheet 4 [n1/en tors Hans F. Schaefer, [fr:

` l Fran/f PL//sife' YI v A B l orney Sept. 15, 1959 H. F. scHAEFER, JR., ETAL 2,903,985

SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP original Filed July 5, 1952 s sheets-sheet 5 Inventors Hans E' Schaefr', rn'

Sept. 15, 1959 H. F. scHAEFER, JR., ETAL 2,903,985

SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP Original Filed July A5. 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Inventors Hans rl' Schaefer, zn Frank FU/,sw'fer` Sept. 15, 1959v H. F. SCHAEFER, JR., ETAI- 2,903,985

- SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP original Filed July s. 1952 a sheets-sheet 7 Inventors Hans E' Schaefenrfn Fran/f PU/sfeT Sept. 15, 1.959 H. F. scHAEFER, JR, ETAL 2,903,985

SEWING MACHINE THREAD TAKE-UP Original Filed July 5. 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Inventors Hans E Schaefer; f77: jp' 6 Fran/f PU/sifer United States Patent O f' SEWING MASI-HNE THREAD TAKE-UP Hans F. Schaefer, Jr., Rockport, and Frank Pulsifer, Hamilton, Mass., assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, NJ., and Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Original application July 5, 1952, Serial No. 297,216, now Patent No. 2,780,188, dated February 5, 1957. Divided and this application March 29, 1956, Serial No. 574,813

9 Claims. (Cl. 112-57) The present invention relates to improvements in sewing machines of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,773,461, granted December 11, 1956, upon application of Alfred S. Clark, and is identical with that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,780,188, granted February 5, 1957, upon application led in the names of the present inventors, of which application the present one is a division.

An object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine of the type referred to having a thread take-up which is simpler, more compact, and more durable in operation, and which may be operated at higher speeds with less effort and attention on the part of the operator and in which the take-up is more readily accessible for manipulation and adjustments, both from a manufacturing as well as an operating standpoint, than heretofore.

It is another object of this invention to provide a sewing machine having a thread take-up with which stitches are set more deeply in hard thick work, which has less `resiliency than softer or more resilient thinner work.

In accordance with the objects noted and as a feature of this invention, the machine embodying the invention has stitch forming devices including a needle and a looptaker provided with a needle loop entering beak, in combination with a needle thread take-up comprising an arm which oscillates between fixed limits of movement, a fixed friction reducing pulley, a movable friction-reducing pulley mounted on the arm and arranged for taking up thread throughout the entire movement of the arm. Cooperating with the pulleys is a movable friction-producing thread eye on the arm and a fixed friction producing eye mounted between the limits of movement of the arm to cause the thread to be taken up during one portion only of the take-up arm movement. The fixed friction-producing eye is mounted closer to the limit of thread taking-up movement of the arm than to the other limit of arm movement to cause the thread to be taken up frictionally as the take-up movement is completed. The machine is provided with a cover enclosing the take-up arm and having a hinge mounting and a thread guide movable with the cover about the hinge mounting, to which cover mounted guide the thread passes directly from the takeup arm guide.

The above and other features of the invention including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying `drawings and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a view in front elevation, partly broken away, and in section, of a shoe sewing machine embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the sewing head portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. l, with parts broken away and shown in section;

the same machine showing the actuating and driving mech- 2,903,985 Patented Sept. l5, 1959 ICC anism arranged in a two-compartment, oil-retaining hous- 111g;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the machine taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an angular view of certain parts of the machine on an enlarged scale including the loop taker and needle, as seen in the direction of the arrow V of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a sectional `detail view on an enlarged scale of the take-up mechanism taken along the line VI--VI of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a plane view, partly broken away and in section, of the take-up and thread tension devices;

Fig. 8 is a view in left side elevation of the machine looking directly at the sewing point; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail view similar to Fig. 6 and showing the take-up mechanism in a position for permitting the thread to pass with negligible friction through an eye in the take-up arm and another eye adjustably fixed on the frame.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings is a curved eyepointed needle lock stitch sewing machine adapted to operate upon the marginal portions of a shoe similar to that described in the applications above-identified and in United States Letters Patent No. 2,546,152, granted March 27, 1951, upon an application of I. D. Chandler.

The stitch forming devices of the illustrated machine comprise a hollow discoidal rotary loop taker or shuttle 2 having a needle loop entering beak 3 (Fig. 5) mounted for rotation in a plane at an angle to that defined by a curved eye-pointed needle 4. The beak 3 of the loop taker acts directly on the thread, indicated at 12, carried by the needle to open up each loop formed by the needle for passage about an open ended circular locking thread case mounted for relative rotation within the loop taker beneath a cover 14 (Fig. 5).

The loop taker is secured to the forward end of a hollow horizontal shaft 16 mounted for rotation at an acute angle to the axis of a needle stud 8 which mounts the needle for oscillation. The loop taker shaft is connected for rotation with a main sewing shaft 18 which extends generally parallel to the needle stud 8 and to the direction of feeding movement of the Work through the machine. The loop taker is rotated twice for each single rotation of the sewing shaft. Connecting the sewing shaft 18 and the loop taker shaft 16 is an angle drive comprising a beveled gear 20 secured to the loop taker shaft meshing with a gear 22 secured on a countershaft 24. The countershaft 24 is disposed at right angles to the sewing shaft 18 and carries a helical gear 26 meshing with a helical gear 23 on the sewing shaft. The co-untershaft 24 serves both for connecting the sewing and loop taker shafts as well as for transmitting rotary motion to the loop taker and sewing shafts, the countershaft 24 being rotated by a power driven belt and pulley 29. The upper portion of the machine housing consists of a frame and has projecting through it a main take-up for controlling the thread requirement of the stitch forming devices, for setting each stitch and for pulling off a supply of needle thread for each succesive stitch from a thread tension. The upper end of the take-up, indicated at 30, is enclosed by a cover 32, hinged by a stud 34 fixed to a block 36 secured to the housing frame by a screw 38. For retaining the cover in position, it carries a spring pressed plunger 4t) engageable with a recess in the block 36when the cover is in closed position. The takeup is particularly well fitted for the purpose intended and is arranged with xed and movable thread guides in a manner to supplement the effectiveness of a thread tension (to be described) in imparting a uniform tension to the thread reliably throughout a large range of variable conditions met in operating upon different qualities of Work.

Referring particularly to Figs. 6 and 7, the take-up 30 comprises a lightweight alloy arm 42 having suitable weight-reducing lengthwise slots 44 and connecting struts. A friction-reducing pulley 46 is mounted at its upper end. The arm 42 is mounted for pivotal movement in timed relationship with the needle 4 by mechanism hereinafter so be described. Beneath the pulley 46 `on the arm of the take-up is a friction-producing thread eye 48. Cooperating with the pulley `46 and the eye 48 are a relatively fixed friction-reducing pulley 5.0 and a friction-producing eye .52 formed in a plate 54 adjustably secured to a bracket 56 on the housing frame. The needle thread 12 -is drawn from a suitable supply (not shown) through a preliminary tension guide bar 58 (Figs. 1 and 7) on the housing frame and .past a tension which is of conventional construction including a pair of thread engaging vtension disks 60 and 62, slidably supported on a central spindle 64 clamped to a thimble 66. The thimble is removably secured within an opening in the housing frame. Also clamped within the thimble is one end of a torsion `spring (IB-'having its lfree end formed intoy an eye to impart an auxiliary yielding tension to the thread after leaving the tension disks 60 and 62. As shown in Fig. f6, the tension disks are pressed yieldingly together by a spring 70 acting between the disk 60 and a washer 72 ,held in place by a thumbscrew 7 3 threaded on the upper .end of the spindle. From the auxiliary tension spring 68 the thread 12 passes through a lubricator consisting of a perforated -wick contained in a tube 74 mounted in a cover 76 at the upper end of a cylindrical reservoir 78. From the thread lubricator tube 74, the thread passes through the :xed friction thread eye 52 to the movable friction -thread eye 48 in the take-up 30, the fixed friction-reducing pulley 50, the movable friction-reducing pulley 46, a :thread guide eye 80 in the housing frame, and to the eye of the needle 4. As in the machine of the Clark patent, above referred to, the thread also passes through an eye in a needle guide 82 operating in a manner similar to that .described in that patent.

The ruse of the friction-producing guide eyes 48 and 52 and the friction-reducing pulleys 46 and 50, mounted upon or cooperating with the take-up 30, is of advantage where different qualities are met in the material of the fwork operated upon.. The pulley i) is located outside ,the range of movement of the take-up, so that control of the thread is provided sufficient for the requirements of the stitch forming devices, except for the application `of a final tension in setting `each stitch, and in drawing a supply of thread past .the tension disks 60 and 62. Withink the range of take-up movement and nearer to the flimit of its movement at which each stitch is set, the friction-producing guide ,eyes .48 and 52 come into operation, the` friction eyes having little or no effect on the takedup action throughout the remainder of the take-up movement.

Variations in resistance met in drawing the sewing threads into final position in the work, as a result of differences in the resiliency and frictional characteristics of the work, are somewhat compensated for through the action of the friction eyes. The frictional action of the thread in the eyes also tends to delay the sliding movement of the thread through them with hard thick work. In this way the stitches are set more deeply in hard thick Vwork which has less resiliency than with softer or more resilient thinner work. The action of the friction eyes 48 and 52 is effective in drawing the thread into final position only at the stitch setting limit of take-up movement, because the two eyes are located to bring them into alinement in a position between the limits of take-up vmovement and closer to the stitch setting end of that movement the thread passing directly between the eyes. `Before the alined position of the eyes is reached, the

friction on the thread produced by the eye 48 is negligible,

the total tension on the thread is relatively low and 2,903,985- y f e the frictonal forces on the thread as it passes the eye 48 are those resulting from pressures of the thread at diametrically opposite edges of the eye, there being substantially no movement of the thread through the eye 52. As the eye 48 moves past a position of alinement with the eye 52 towards a stitch setting position, a much greater tension is applied to the thread and the thread bears against one side only of the eye 4S throughout the length of the eye. As the limit of stitch setting movement of the take-up 30 is reached, the thread is drawn through the fixed eye 52 from the tension disks 60 and 62 and from the stitch being set in the work through the movable eye 48, tending to cause a still greater tension on the thread running between the eyes than upon that portion of thread running to the stitch being set. Greater tension on the thread between the thread eyes than on the thread running to the stitch being set is of advantage because it causes stitches to be set with greater tension in hard thick Work than with soft thin work. With thin work there is no movement of the thread through the eye 48 after setting each stitch, the direct action of the take-up and the fixed eye 52 pulling off sufiicient thread for each stitch from the tension disks. With greater thickness or lack of pliability in the work more thread is required than can be pulled 0E from the tension disks without slippage in the eye 48. The stitch setting tension in the thread running to the stitch in the work, therefore, must increase to a point where it overcomes both the frictional action imparted to the thread passing through the eye 48 and that imparted to the thread passing through the fixed eye 52, so that the tension on the thread between the eye 48 and the stitch being set is greater than that applied by the tension disks. Therefore, it is lmore than likely with thick, hard work that the stitches will be set more securely to hold the parts together against the increased resistance offered than with thin, more pliable work.

As a means to adjust the action of the stitch setting take-up when the machine is first assembled and to offset the elasticity of the thread when thread of different quality is employed, a convenient adjustment is provided in the illustrated take-up structure. For these purposes the position of the Xed eye 52 may be shifted relatively to the stitch setting limit of take-up movement. To adjust the eye 52 the plate 54 is slotted and has passing through it a clamp screw 84 entering a threaded opemng in the bracket 56. By loosening the clamp lscrew 84 the portion of take-up movement through which both friction producing guide eyes are effective in taking up thread may be increased or decreased in the desired manner.

Since the construction of the take-up has been designed to provide the greatest strength for the lightest possible weight, it is desirable to protect the operating end of the take-up 30 from possible danger of injury or contact with the operators hands at all times during the operation of the machine. To insure closing the cover 32 before starting the machine, the pulley 50 is mounted on the cover, it being necessary to move the cover to closed position in order to bring the pulley 50 into proper sewing relationship with the take-up. By mountare made in the Xed guide eye 52 the take-up cover 32 has a transparent window 86 seen best in Fig. l, compn'sing a sheet of plastic material yattached by screws 88 to the cover 32.

As explained more fully in the prior Clark patent, all

of the mechanisms for actuating the stitch forming and feeding devices with the exception of the loop taker 2, which is continually rotated, `and the take-up 30 which is cam actuated, are driven from crank actuated mechanisms acting in unison with the main sewing shaft 18. The needle derives its stitch forming action from the sewing shaft 18 through the action of a crank 87 (Fig. 4). The take-up mechanism also derives its motion from the sewing shaft 18, being connected thereto by mechanism (Fig. 6) comprising a lever 90 having an upwardly extending arm 91 to which the arm -42 is made fast. The lever 90 is mounted for oscillation on a stud 92 secured `at its ends in the machine frame. On a substantially horizontal arm of the lever 90 is a roll 94 engaging a cam slot 96 cut in a disk 89 secured to the sewing shaft. The cam slot 96 is so formed as to operate the take-up in timed sequence with the needle 4.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A shoe sewing machine having a needle, means for applying constant friction to a thread, and a take-up, to which the thread passes from the friction applying means, comprising Ia single arm oscillating between fixed limits of movement, a fixed friction reducing pulley and a movable friction reducing pulley mounted on the arm and cooperating with the fixed friction reducing pulley for taking up thread throughout the entire movement of the arm in one direction, in combination with means, including a movable friction producing thread eye on the arm and a fixed friction producing thread eye mounted between the limits of movement of the arm, for applying additional friction to the thread during the latter portion only of the take-up arm movement in said one direction.

2. A shoe sewing machine having a needle, means for applying constant friction to a thread, and a take-up, to which the thread passes from the friction applying means, comprising a single yarm oscillating between fixed limits of movement, a fixed friction reducing pulley and a movable friction reducing pulley mounted on the arm and cooperating with the fixed friction reducing pulley for taking up thread throughout the entire movement of the arm in one direction, in combination with means, including a movable friction producing thread eye on the arm and a fixed friction producing thread eye mounted closer to the limit of thread take-up movement of the arm than to the other limit of arm movement, for applying additional friction to the thread as the take-up movement of said arm in said one direction is being completed.

3. A shoe sewing machine having la needle, means for applying constant friction to a thread, and a takeup, to which the thread passes from the friction applying means, comprising a single arm oscillating between fixed limits of movement, a xed friction reducing pulley and a movable friction reducing pulley mounted on the arm and cooperating with the fixed friction reducing pulley for taking up thread throughout the entire movement of the arm in one direction, in combination with means, including `a movable friction producing thread eye on the arm and a fixed friction producing thread eye mounted between the limits of movement of the arm, for applying additional friction to the thread during the latter portion only of the take-up arm movement in said one direction, said movable and fixed eyes being so located that they are in alinement in one position of the arm between the limits of take-up arm movement.

4. A shoe sewing machine having a needle, means for applying constant friction to a thread, and a take-up, to which the thread passes from the friction applying means, comprising a single arm oscillating between fixed limits of movement, a fixed friction reducing pulley and a movable friction reducing pulley mounted on the arm and cooperating with the fixed friction reducing pulley 6 for taking up thread throughout the entire movement of the arm in one direction, in combination with means, including relatively movable friction producing thread eyes, for applying additional friction to the thread during the latter portion only of the take-up arrn movement in said one direction.

5. A shoe sewing machine having a needle, means for applying constant friction to a thread, and a take-up, to which the thread passes from the friction applying means, comprising a single arm oscillating between fixed limits of movement, `a fixed friction reducing pulley and a movable friction reducing pulley mounted on the arm and cooperating with the fixed friction reducing pulley for taking up thread throughout the entire movement of the arm in one direction, in combination with means for applying additional friction to the thread during one portion only of the take-up arm movement in said one direction, said means including a movable friction producing thread eye on the arm and a fixed member having a friction producing eye mounted between the limits of movement of the arm through which eyes the thread passes directly from the friction applying means With negligible additional friction during a major portion of the movement of the take-up arm in said one direction but about which member and arm, the thread is wrapped for additional friction during the latter portion of said movement in sa-id one direction.

6. A shoe sewing machine having a needle, a take-up comprising an oscillating arm having a thread guide at its free end, la cover enclosing the take-up arm and having a hinge mounting, in combination with means for rendering the machine inoperative when the cover is opened including a thread guide mounted upon and movable with the cover about the hinge mounting, to which cover mounted guide the thread passes directly from the take-up arm guide, the cover mounted guide being in operative position when the cover is closed and in inoperative position when the cover is swung open about the hinge mounting.

7. A shoe sewing machine having a housing, a take-up comprising an oscillating arm the free end of which projects through the housing, a thread guide on the takeup arm, and a take-up cover hinged to the housing, in combination with means for rendering the machine inoperative when the cover is opened, including a thread guide mounted upon the cover and arranged to be swung away from the housing when the cover is swung open to expose the guide on the take-up arm, the Cover mounted guide being in operative position when the cover is closed and in inoperative position when the cover is swung away from the housing, and a fixed thread guide on the housing past which the take-up arm moves.

8. A shoe sewing machine having a housing, a take-up comprising an oscillating arm the free end of which projects through the housing, `a thread guide on the takeup arm, and a take-up cover hinged to the housing in combination with means for rendering the machine inoperative when the cover is opened, including a thread guide mounted upon the cover and alranged to be swung away from the housing when the cover is swung open to expose the guide on the take-up arm, the cover mounted thread guide being in operative position when the cover is closed and in inoperative position when the cover is swung away from the housing, a fixed thread guide on the housing cooperatively associated with the guide on the take-up arm and plast which the take-up ann moves, and means for adjusting the position of the fixed guide along the path of movement of the take-up arm.

9. A shoe sewing machine having a needle, a take-up comprising an oscillating arm having a thread guide at its free end, a cover enclosing the take-up arm and having a hinge mounting, in combination with means for rendering the machine inoperative when the cover is opened, including a thread guide mounted upon and mov- Aable with the cover about the hngemounting, to which cover mounted guide the Vthread passes directly from the take-pp armguide, the, over mounted guide being in operative position when lthe cover yis closed and'lin in; operative position when the cover :is open, and `a.A trans.- prent window in the cover whereby the'take-upwaction may be observed While the cover is closed. i

8 Pierce et al. Nov. 2, 1915 Meyer v Sept. 1,8, 192-3 Lyons A May 7, 1929 Stadllb Aug. 2.6, 19,41 Olson Sept. '19, 1944 Zeier Dec. 6, 1955 

